Cross-faction teaming: Probation and Duress
By
abnormal_joe,
Posted on: 2008-03-13 14:56 in Suggestions and Ideas
This may be used as a foundation for Fall from Grace/Redemtion. Like if Mary Jane was held so Spiderman would do evil things to people who are good. Than after awhile Spiderman starts enjoying doing bad stuff. With some strugling to stay good. But, not getting Mary Jane back and continuing to do villainous things. He continues to become corrupt until he can no longer fight it. He than would become a villain.
Or villain seeing how much easier the people's lives are in Paragon.
Have it build up like a contact. It would have a spliter line as regular contacts would. Doing enouch probation/diress to reach the the line would give the character the phone number to the place so they can look for cross faction teams without having to keep visiting the place. The more missions done in probation or under diress that larger the bar raises into permanent Fall from Grace/Redemtion. When the bar raise you can choose to revert. To revert back just do as you would for the side you're fighting for now.
If balance is an issue than changing sides would be the more reason to do this. It would give the Devs some really great numbers in their data mining.
And if everyone is going to leave Rogue Isle to go to Paragon City. I'll have to disagree; server transfers has been around for a while now and Freedom is still the most populated server.
If it ain't broke set it on fire, then say it was a fault in the design.
Main:50 Force Encephalon Mind/Kinetic Controller, Protector Server
This is a great idea, and I think it should wholely stay tied to the SK/Exemplar system, but with some consideration to allow for 50s to be able to still join. (A 50 sorta exemplared to another 50?)
You go to the Contacts for Hero corp/Wyvern to set yourself as possible open to duress or Probation. You would use the same place to zone in from one side to the other if teamed up. You also have that as your rez point if you are kicked, or estranged from your mentor for too long (2 minutes maybe?) without being picked up by someone else in the team as your mentor.
As to how you can be found. Well... you may flag yourself thru the contact, but once done you should just show up in the opposing factions team seek menu. I imagine they will undersstand why masterminds are showing up on the hero list when they are looking for more members to a team. With global channels available it means it would be pretty easy for people to arrange teams for any person so long as they can find enough sponsers/mentors. Heck we already do this today for people to far apart level wise to organize teams. This would just be another interesting layer.
It would be neat to exemplar down a level 50 villain, and thus as a level 14 Empathy I have a exemplared level 14 (once 50) level mastermind I am looking over... and hopefully reforming someday. Same way for the level 50 hero exemplared to the level 14 villain. They fear the power so they used some type of power limiters to keep them undercontrol. (i.e. being exemplared down to the mentors/sponsers level and all) The SK can work the same. One level below mentor. Perhaps a young villain can see by exemple the better way? RP reasons are abound, and mechanical reasons are present (more or less). I hope this may be done even in inclusion to Fallen Heroes/Redeemed Villains for those who like to get only a taste of the otherside and help out friends (in an out of character way) without truly jumping sides. (Which would have some other system available for it...)
Although I think some level of trading or hotswaping should be allowed. At least for inspirations. It is such a pain in the butt not to be able to give a team mate (hero or villain) the rez insp we need to keep the team moving. Now in this case whatever is necessary to create the needed insp. I think the drag and drop for inspiratons only should not care what faction you are giving it too. (Though honestly I don't think the trading limitation should exist at all. Yet then again I believe in market merging too... Your milage may vary.)
My more than 2 bits.
x Jeremy M.
Global Handle: @JeremyM
City of Heroes LiveJournal Community
Woah! Sticky! Very nice!
Back on topic, I think Ex/Mal should remain a separate game mechanic. If a 50 wants to join a crossfaction team then they can choose to Ex/Mal once they get there.
Don't get me wrong, RP reasons deserve consideration but ultimately more flexibility in game play means the feature is more useful to more players. And on top of that, if they devs don't have to tie in an existing piece of code with a new piece then that's that much less work they have to do.
Check out the Repeat Offenders network of SGs! You'll be glad you did.
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Back on topic, I think Ex/Mal should remain a separate game mechanic. If a 50 wants to join a crossfaction team then they can choose to Ex/Mal once they get there.
Don't get me wrong, RP reasons deserve consideration but ultimately more flexibility in game play means the feature is more useful to more players. And on top of that, if they devs don't have to tie in an existing piece of code with a new piece then that's that much less work they have to do.
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On the other hand, having a "heroic" team with one hero and seven villains would seem... imprudent. I really like the idea that there needs to be a sponsor, so that at most the teams would be 4 and 4.
Does it have to be in the LK/Exemplar slot? I don't know. I should think if it were in the slot, it should be independent of whether or not there is LK/Exemplaring going on -- though I would suggest that whatever LK/Exemplaring happens happen specifically between the sponsor and the character on probation/under duress.
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Back on topic, I think Ex/Mal should remain a separate game mechanic. If a 50 wants to join a crossfaction team then they can choose to Ex/Mal once they get there.
Don't get me wrong, RP reasons deserve consideration but ultimately more flexibility in game play means the feature is more useful to more players. And on top of that, if they devs don't have to tie in an existing piece of code with a new piece then that's that much less work they have to do.
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On the other hand, having a "heroic" team with one hero and seven villains would seem... imprudent. I really like the idea that there needs to be a sponsor, so that at most the teams would be 4 and 4.
Does it have to be in the LK/Exemplar slot? I don't know. I should think if it were in the slot, it should be independent of whether or not there is LK/Exemplaring going on -- though I would suggest that whatever LK/Exemplaring happens happen specifically between the sponsor and the character on probation/under duress.
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Interesting point, and well taken.
Perhaps just a simple message "You only have 3 heroes on this team, you need to add an additional hero before you can add another villain." if you try to create an "unbalanced" team. I wouldn't care if the additional hero needed to be SKd.
I suppose a similar mechanic would be added redside as well. It makes sense on both sides for the genre, I'd just hate to see it limit game play too much.
Check out the Repeat Offenders network of SGs! You'll be glad you did.
Some points of Clarity:
Firstly, the chat system does not need to be changed. Look how it works in Co-Op zones. If you have "Show enemy chat" disabled, your villain does not see hero chat, the end. It would be a good plan (Although not strictly neccisary) to enable showing enemy chat before you cross over.
In PVP zones, Heroes and Villains have access to the same channels.
Seriously.
I'm not making this up.
The only Villain channels a Hero can't see (and vice versa) in PVP are your Supergroup, coalition, and Team chat.
They see Arena, Request, Broadcast, Local, Tells directed to them, all global channels that you are both part of, ETC. if they have the options on.
Now, as for the Exemp thing, I'm gonna say the best thing to do would be impliment the PVP Zone levelcode. You're SK'd up to or exemplared down to the level of your benefactor. If you are same level, nothing happens, but you still count as SK'd.
For those who worry about cross-faction chat in PVP, it happens. It happens a lot. Really.
The people who PVP play both heroes and villains more times than not, and we PVP on both sides of the spectrum. Some like to keep things balanced and swap sides regularly when numbers tilt too far.
And it's not like your VG couldn't make up a global and invite your Hero toon "Spy" to it anyhow. There's no point in limiting chat options here.
I would be willing to say "No PVP for temp side-swap charactors". Seriously, it's a different game function. If they implimented this with side-swap PVP, that'd be cool too. Just saying I can understand the limitations.
Don't tie it in to SG's. That's a headache, and propably a coding nightmare.
Leave the base entry permissions as what they are. If your team leader's SG says "Allow teammates entry", then the team can enter, the end. They get TP'd out if they quit team, same as normal.
You can't spell Slaughter without laughter
All your gonna do is just farm behemoths anyways.
My thoughts on November 30.
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Now, as for the Exemp thing, I'm gonna say the best thing to do would be impliment the PVP Zone levelcode. You're SK'd up to or exemplared down to the level of your benefactor. If you are same level, nothing happens, but you still count as SK'd.
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Is this, strictly speaking, necessary? I mean, it would likely work, but...
Hm. Maybe a variation of this -- perhaps, if the sponsoree and the sponsor are close enough in level to get XP for each other's missions, they remain their normal levels unless explicitly SK/Exemping, and if they're outside that range it kicks in automatically?
Or not... hrm. I don't see a good reason not to treat this like any other teaming. I know I was the one who suggested the two level thing in the first place, but in the end this complicates things to an unnecessary degree.
Going back to the discussion of flagging yourself for crossfaction PUGs... my original thought had been to use a similar system to the Arenas-- if you're interested in crossfaction, you hit a terminal in the Wyvern/Hero Corps office and wait. It sounds like folks would rather there be some kind of 'registration' instead -- maybe go there, click the "I am interested in cross-faction" button, and be flagged on appropriate LFT queries until you click it off. If that's the case, though, I would personally hope that when you joined a team on your own side it would automatically set your crossfaction LFT to 'off,' and the same when you logged out or disconnected.
I think you may be making this a little too complicated with the whole necessity of team balance between heroes and villains thing. Sometimes the media conventions have to give sway to convenience and easiness to understand for the players, not all of whom are, shall we say, genius-level intellects.
Use a specialized contact for the probation thing, yes. Wyvern might work for the villains, but if you do Hero Corps you'd need to make sure that their contact isn't easily confused with the Reputation contacts who are also Hero Corps.
It might actually be better to handle this through Pocket D and the Rikti War Zone. Put a fixer in some shady nook on both the hero and villain sides of the D, and in some out of the way place in the War Zone, and teams have to come to the D or zone to arrange the meet. Then, once all members of the team are either duressed or probated, they can all exit through the appropriate portal.
They'd probably want to use some variation on the Task Force/Ouroboros code for this, to make sure that a line-drop wouldn't drop you from the team but a team quit would send you back to the D or RWZ. Though I'm not sure whether it would be possible to do this and still be able to take normal missions.
I definitely don't want to see this ties to either of those two places...
(Pocket D and RWZ), mainly because their themes are based on open cooperation, neither of which is represented by Prob & Dur, or Redemp & Fall.
I'm not sure what the balance should be, but tend to think that the notion of a hero or villain being temporarily manipulated to switch sides also leads to a believable level of coercion. But, whatever; the implementation of this idea far outweighs the ratio of who's who aspect.
The zone for this hero side should be Galaxy, Mercy villain side. This would promote the under use of Galaxy and also give mercy more traffic instead of being the zone everyone can't wait to get out of.
In Galaxy maybe position it in the northeast part of the zone; in Mercy the northwest part of the island, again to give those areas play.
Just an opinion.
/signed... Already having to clone my SL50 hero on Villains to keep his storyline going... this would be great.
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You need to put a warning on this:
"WARNING: TL;DR"
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Perhaps if you read more and talked less you would think more and be perceived as intelligent. 
Sadly those who use the TLDR excuse only demonstrate their stupidity. 
As for the idea presented, I think it is awesome and would be a welcome addition to the CO-OP mission genre being offered. 
LOVE IT!
Would make cross faction possible and easy, and my main wouldnt need to quite my SG to go over to get all the badges over there!! :P
"You wear a mask to hide who you are, I wear a mask to show who I am"
Arc ID 91456: The Zombie Apocalypse Task Force:poster 1, poster 2
CLICK THE ABOVE LINK TO HELP DO YOUR PART TO SAVE C.O.H!!!!!
This is a pretty solid idea and similar to a few I've posted in a number of other threads. I think we need to do more where heroes and villains can go visit the other side and play on that side. This game is somewhat divided and the players don't need to be. This type of solution would solve a few other issues I have with the game (namely, dead zones because you can now access both player bases).
I really don't think the SK system is needed at all. That is just complicating matters. It should be far more free flowing and easy for heroes/villains to enter the other side and do missions. This would do wonders to stimulate the game. Just have a contact like suggested and have a list of missions to pick from pretty much like in a regular team. You wouldn't have to add new missions right off the bat because now, through this new teaming, you have access to ALL of the game content.
I'd also like to expand on this idea a bit. If your toon completes an extensive number of co-op missions then he/she is granted the trusted badge and is given a 'day pass' to enter the other side and interact freely for a limited amount of time (maybe 7 days real time). This pass can be renewed upon completion of another run on the TF Imagine your villain hanging out and acting cool in Atlas Park!
Anyway, I think this type of idea really needs to be put into the game. The best part is if people don't like it then they can just ignore it. Nothing is forced on you.
My idea was to give this ability to lvl 50 toons as a reward and to motivate lvl 50 play but I prefer giving ALL toons the ability to cross over. The division between player base is not needed and takes away from the game.
This thread is excellent and I really hope the DEVS implement this idea in some form or the other.
PS - what does TL DR mean?
catgirl approved
/signed
AE # 67087: Journey through the Looking Glass - Save the World
LLX VirtueVerse! - Check out my crazy Toons
This is the size of group that we have balanced AVs for, 6.
-Positron 06/07/06 07:27 PM
There are so many wonderful ideas in this thread....I have at least skimmed the entire thing I'm totally in support of this now to add to the idea and point out a few problems I also hope to solve Warning long stuff and probably typos ahead but hopefully good ideas
I agree the two level issue is not needed, AND I could see limited missions where a single hero or villian takes a disguised opposing team to the opposite world for a special mission that only they could get. IF something happens where the "guide" is no longer presant for whatever reason the other team members would have the option to follow the suggestions in the rest of my post or be transported back.
I see a major problem with the "leash" of exemplar/sk being applied to a cross-faction player - We have to solve the hospital zoning problem. Especially on the hero side being sent to a hospital or having your mentor go to one could easily mean the cross-faction toon is automatically sent back to thier side of origin. There are disconnects, loading, travel issues etc. I like the idea of being auto teleported back where you belong but we need an easier way around it. Especially for those of us who sometimes take a LONG time to zone. Besides I see some other fun things that can be done with my solution
What if a hero of villian who loses thier mentor through distance, disconnect, team-break-up or whatever...had one other option, besides finding an immediate new mentor in the team. What if they had a limited period of time in which to get to one of several designated "safe" locations, as long as they stay in these locations no timer for deportation applies.
It would work like this:
"Warning: You are getting to far from your mentor" , "You are to far from your mentor, you must return to your mentor immediately, or proceed directly to a designated safe area or you will be deported from the rogue isles/paragon city within 15 minutes.
Designated safe areas would include "Any Hospital (even prisoners can recieve medical treatment), "Any Police Station" (Voluntarilly turning yourself into the authoities/turning "informant" on the eventual falling/redemption paths) , "Wyvern Outpost(as per the suggestion of using them to transport villians to paragon to be "on probation").
I don't really like Hero corps as the gray area specialists for heroes going "Across" to the red side but perhaps a "mercenary brigade" or whatever we want to call it. Another maybe is a drone protected spot next to a TF/SF/Trial contact. You are ostentiably being watched by that elite hero or villian and can not leave thier sight. Also while ON a TF/SF/TRIAL you are effectively mentored to the TF/SF/Trial eliminateing concerns until it is over.
There would be no combat in these locations but you could look for a new team, wait for your mentor, send yourself back to your side of origin, maybe buy inspirations, level, visit a store, perhaps even get certain special missions. Not all of these locations would have all the features.
In RP terms if a hero under duress or an honorable villian they have given thier "parole" and will do as they have promised...returning to a designated spot to wait for instructions.
This would solve the problem of going to a hospital by mentor or cross-game toon causing the toon to end up back home, and if the team breaks up they can try to find a new team or head back.
The instant a cross-game toon leaves a safe zone without a mentor a timer starts if they are not within another safe zone or else near a mentor within the alloted time(my example is 10-15 minutes but I'll leave it to the devs to come up with the perfect window of time) then they are deported. As long as they get where they are supposed to be within that time then everything is alright.
As for getting a team from within any of these locations the cross-game toon can hold up an emote sign that could be created or access a computer terminal/contact/mystic crystal or else just use the searching for team interphase with a new flag as suggested.
Just stand there in the lobby with a "please recruit me" sign or whatever
If/When the redemption/falling system is put into place some or all of these locations could be used to give special missions that would assist in the process of falling or redeeming yourself...maybe for these missions you could even be given a "probationary pass" to travel to your missions solo if you wish. These "passes" would get longer and the help you would gradually gain (access to npc vendors, extra missions, features, etc) would be unlocked as your redemption/fall continues. Eventually you would could choose to stay a "mercenary" one who can travel fairly freely on both the hero and villian side but never with full trust or access on either (you can access certain general npc's on both sides but will have to use your own contacts for certain types of missions...for instance no villian side patron powers because you would be unable to access the patron power arcs but can access the black market, on hero side you will not be able to access wentworths as they will not deal with your kind but will have access to the Ancillary Powers or merc specific ones) and it will be mercenary contacts that will introduce you to general contacts, so each no "tier" of missions will start with a mercenary contact before feeding back into the general pool.
If you chose to completely switch sides you would then be a hero or villian of course and play completely under those rules, still able to be "on probation"/"duress" and use that to start the redemption/falling process over and I do mean from square one. Otherwise welcome to your new life as a hero/villian where although you remain the level you are you gain new stuff by proving your loyalty to your new allegiance.
If you choose to remain a "mercenary" then once you reach a fairly balenced point between red and blue achievement you have access to both and must STAY relatively balenced. A declared mercenary can range between 1/2 red & blue - 1/4 & 3/4 red & blue. This is determined by doing tasks on your designated side. If you get to far past this line on either side you will have to get your "Balence" back or come under suspicion (i.e. the timer will bug you again) on that side and you will have to earn freedom of movement and other stuff back...or decide to fall/be redeemed.
The "Weighting" is as follows (these are examples we could always change the percentages)
"MAYHEM/SAFEGUARD" it is best to alternate these missions as they attract a lot of attention. Each one changes your rating by 1/10.
A trial/TF/Sf will change your rating by 1/4 this will not take effect until after the TF/SF/TRIAL is completed.
Regular missions 1/100th
Story Arcs 1/50th
Special (redemption/fall) story arc 1/4th
Paper/police band mission 1/100th
Mercenary specific missions -no impact but can be used to unlock mercenary specific content.
What do you all think?
Phaselight
I am a huge fan of crossing over heroes and vills but I think it should be with little restraints or you're just ruining the fun. I really prefer the idea of doing content on the other side and interacting with each other in any zone. The only limit should be on time and maybe not being able to shop in each other's markets. Your heroes/vills should get temp passes for the a set amount of time to let you visit the other side.
There are many options here so I hope something is put in place and soon.
Replying to the thread in general.
Personally, I think this is an /awesome/ idea, and most definitely has well-seeded roots in CoX's parent genre. Consider me /signed.
I do have an idea about what to do with heroes/villains who get too far from their "Mentor"...though I imagine many won't like it. Imagine the scenario: MacLaren, the infamous (Robotics/FF) mercenary has been reported as operating in Paragon City, under the careful monitoring gaze of the dazzling Diamond. Okay, authorities are wary but content...but wait! What's this? Diamond's been knocked unconscious by a Malta ambush--and now MacLaren's on the loose, unwatched and unguarded, inside Paragon City! *cut to commercial*
Again, we have the timer. "Warning! You have strayed too far from your 'mentor'! Get closer or face the consequences!" A, say, 10-minute timer starts ticking down. Maybe 5. At the end of that period, if the hero/villain hasn't rejoined forces with their "mentor", a series of ambushes comes looking for them. Use the Rikti Invasion coding, so that whatever level the player is, then it's precisely their level, whatever zone they're in. For villains, the PPD comes charging in. Heroes get Arachnos. Here's the kicker: No XP for these ambushes. They come for you, and keep coming for you, until you rejoin forces with your "mentor". Once you're back together, the ambush is cancelled, the PPD/Arachnos de-aggro and leave you in peace. Of course, if one of the ambushes takes you out, then your broken carcass is sent back to [place of origin]. "Too bad, so sad, MacLaren...you had your chance for redemption, but you [censored]ed it up. Better luck next time."
Great idea. I looked through this thread, and I don't think this specific idea was put forward:
Using an Ouroboros style system. Heroes and villains go to a co-op zone. They can form a team, or go solo. Team leader clicks the contact, which brings up a list of arcs for both sides. Once an arc is chosen, all villains on the team are automatically on probation, or all heroes are automatically under duress. Usual Task Force restrictions apply. As in Ouroboros, clicking on a giant teleporter would take everyone directly to the contact. Upon completion of the arc, or quitting of the team/task force, a countdown begins, ending with teleportation back to the co-op zone. OR the arc ends, and you can stay in the current opposite faction zone you're in ONLY, and can not do any other content.
As far as team composition goes, I don't think there should be limits. Normal co-op zones don't have restrictions, and forcing a team of two heroes and three villains to either find another hero or kick a villain would make people unhappy and prevent some people from experiencing content. However, if there weren't players of the opposite faction, and a villain tried to do a villain arc, an error message would pop up, saying "You need a hero!" or something.
As far as soloing goes: villains can blackmail from afar, and villains can decide to do, or be coerced into doing, good without a hero present. Soloing is okay in my book, and I think soloing should be doable in as many situations as possible in CoX, to keep the current trends going.
The game mechanics might require that the arcs be limited to their own level, but that could be explained by a trust issue (we don't trust you, so we're knocking your power down a bit. Your patron/duressor also had theirs knocked so they couldn't push you around). And for the higher level ones, you could say that the task required the party to be at their full power, otherwise it wouldn't get done.
Other than those automatic level changes, I don't think anything should be done with the current sk/ex system. In current co-op zones, heroes and villains have to sk/ex as normal, otherwise experience will be sacrificed, and I see no reason to do otherwise here.
The distance from probation officer/blackmailer doesn't make sense to me, and would probably be hard to do. I love the idea of ambushes if you get too far, but in my system above, people can do this solo. Not to mention the fact that if a hero is trying to get villain badges, the hero can just get a villain friend to stay within 200 yards of them until they're done.
This brings us to badges and other things content related. I say that the opposite faction should be allowed to get any badges that the devs see fit. That's not really my call, and has been discussed earlier. As far as other content, I think that timing the story arcs could work. So could a timer once an arc is completed. So could allowing a person to stay ONLY in the opposite faction zone they are in when the arc ends or when you leave the team/quit the TF, and not being able to click contacts, markets, etc. When you try to zone out, you are automatically taken to the original co-op zone (unless you use a base or Pocket D 'porter). In Siren's Call, at least, when a hero clicks on the villain store, she says "We don't serve your kind here." Do that for all villain contacts except the current arc being done, and vice versa, and you're set.
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i skimmed but it was worth the skimming.
/signed.
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"Sorry bucko, but CoH and CoV are the same game." -BackAlleyBrawler
"Silly villain, CoX is for Heroes!" -Saicho
/signed.
<qr>
Love the idea. Well done. I agree that the 'SK' aspect of it isn't necessary.
Wavicle, Energy/Energy Blaster, dinged 50 in Issue 4, summer of 2005.
@Wavicle, mostly on the Justice server.
(QR) - Oh, so very, very THIS!
I agree with most of the modifications of the original idea, and with a bit of work, this could be a very real, very fun addition to the game.
"And in this moment, I will not run.
It is my place to stand.
We few shall carry hope
Within our bloodied hands."
Love the idea. One suggestion though that no more than half of the team should be made up of opposite faction members. This should be done via an automatic restriction. TF's and the like should include auto duress/probation. And all auto port issues should be cancelled inside missions. Out on the street I like the idea of reporting to any police station or hospital to get a reprieve from the auto port. So long as you are on the team and have a sponsor I see no reason to restrict distance.
Furthermore, I think this should be linked to some sort of story arc completed by lvl 15 or so. Upon completing it you can now set yourself as open for cross faction play, and also gain the ability to search for opposite faction members via your normal team search.
Overall it would be a special group you would be able to join by completing a task ala Vanguard.
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Love the idea. One suggestion though that no more than half of the team should be made up of opposite faction members.
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That's the core reason "behind the scenes" for requiring a Sponsor, and only letting one person Sponsor a single Probatee/Duressed Hero. The in-game explanation is it's either the good word of a specific registered hero allowing the villain to cross over and join the group, or there is a specific villain who has something on a hero and is forcing him to do nasty things in the Rogue Isles. The practical effect is at most you can have four heroes and four villains on any crossfaction team, and at no point will the 'alien' faction outnumber the 'native' faction on a given team.
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Cool idea. I'd prefer the 'two levels above the probate/under diress person' to be outta there to be honest...my level 50 heroes would travel to the Rogue Isles in a heartbeat to fight some dangerous threat, and lacking a level 52 villain anywhere to 'sponsor' 'em...A sponsor, yeah, somebody's gotta vouch for the character who's over in the other playground, but I'm not sure I see a need for the level-locking though?
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Seconded for both dropping the +2 level requirement and it being an awesome idea.
I'd actually go so far as to say remove the level requirement entirely. Making it take the SK/LK slot is fine by me, and allow exemping or SK'ing in it, but don't put any other restrictions in place. This will open it up for people to use their favorite characters for RP, regardless of their level vs. their friends' character level. Your character is there for mostly non-violent reasons (Fear of blackmail, etc. Actually v-side, there's a number of missions that are almost heroic that I wouldn't take much persuading to be convinced to help on...) so having a higher level to watch you shouldn't even be needed, just a contact who's at home there to be sure you don't get yourself into trouble.